Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Fantasy Football 2011 Tight End And Defense Rankings

All the rankings you needed for you draft were released last week.  Quarterback, running back, and wide receiver rankings are all already available, and here comes the last pair of lists, tight ends and defenses.  I'm not going to bother to rank kickers, because it's just stupid.  There is also going to be minimal explanation of the defensive rankings, because you should be taking them in the second to last round.  I'm going to explain in a column this week why streaming defenses is generally the best way to go.

Here come the rankings...

Friday, August 26, 2011

Fantasy Football 2011 Wide Receiver Rankings

Because time is running out before the weekend, the wide receiver, tight end, and defense rankings are all going to have far less explanation than the quarterback or running back rankings.  However, they are just as thought out and prepared as the lists were all made together.  Just don't have time to explain them all and get these rankings out at a good time.

So because of that... right onto the receiver rankings... Keep in mind that these rankings are for standard leagues, not PPR...

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Fantasy Football 2011 Running Back Rankings

And we're back.  After the quarterback rankings dropped yesterday, I'm back here today with my running back rankings.

As you may expect after yesterday's quarterback rankings, these running back rankings aren't going to look like your average fantasy draft list.  Don't worry about how to integrate these lists yet.  I'll be releasing a integrated top 200-something list with a guide on how to draft from it, on Friday.

Anyways, right onto today's list...

Monday, August 22, 2011

Fantasy Football 2011 Quarterback Rankings

Been tinkering with these lists over the last week or two, and I'm finally ready to start rolling out my fantasy rankings at each position this year.  I am going to start with the quarterbacks and roll right on through to defenses before I release an overall rankings list/cheat sheet on Friday.

If you have already had your draft, I don't want to hear any complaints.  You are a moron for scheduling it so early in the offseason.  The earliest your draft should be held is the last weekend in August, and in a perfect world you'd do it a few days before the Thursday opener.  There is no reason for drafting earlier than that.  You're just going to see your players get hurt during the season, ruining a league's integrity for no good reason.

Now... Onto the list...

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Wednesday 8/10/11

Thursday 8/4/11 Starter Stats - James McDonald - 7.0 Innings Pitched - 3 Strikeouts - Loss - 5.14 ERA - 0.57 WHIP
Starter Spreadsheet With Stats Online Here

Just going to update with the previous starters stats here from now on the rest of the baseball season, as I'm way behind on fantasy football as it is.

McDonald would have turned in a fine start here if three of the four hits he gave up didn't go for home runs.  He didn't walk anyone, and three strikeouts wouldn't be a problem if it came with good ERA and a win.

Quick columns for the rest of the year, just like it is here...

Friday, August 5, 2011

Possible Consequences Of The NBA Lockout

Last week we heard from Big Derf Sports' own Alex "Skillet" Scarlett about his ideas for solving the NBA lockout problem. Today we have a column here from guest writer Scott Zimms that does a great job of summing up how we got to this lockout, and the effects it might have if it continues.....

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Thursday 8/4/11

Tuesday's Starter Stats - Rich Harden - 5.2 Innings Pitched - 7 Strikeouts - Loss - 6.35 ERA - 1.41 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Stats - 676.1 Innings Pitched - 502 Strikeouts - 6.68 K/9 - 46 Wins in 108 Starts - 3.43 ERA - 1.20 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

There were a few player moves in the NFL today, but I'm not going to write an NFL moves article today, as none of them really warrant me writing the column up.

On the subject of this post, Harden marked one of the few bad starts I've had over the last month.  An ERA over 6 is never helping your fantasy team.  The seven strikeouts is nice, but it can't be considered a successful start by any means when you let the Seattle Mariners score four runs on you.

Going to pick it up here today hopefully.  It's a short day of selections because it is a travel day, but I have a good option coming up...

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Big Derf Sports Podcast Episode 1

Very first episode of the big derf sports podcast.  We start by talking about MLB and then transition to the NFL about fourty five minutes in.  Any problems with the audio early in the podcast are corrected by the end of it.

8/2/11 Daily NFL News and Notes

The player movement has finally calmed down to a point where that doesn't need to dominate the NFL news for the day.  Can spread out my time and make it more of a general roundup of reactions to the NFL news of the day.  Also letting everyone know that I'm working on plenty of more fantasy features for the next few weeks, so if my Marshall Faulk Strategy post and my Buccaneers post aren't enough for you, there is still plenty more to come.

Of course, I'd also like to point out that Alex "Skillet" Scarlett has been active as my second writer here at Big Derf Sports so be sure to check out all of his work including today's list of best MLB teams.

Today some of the last few gems on the free agent market were finally locked up, and news from camps has finally really started to come in so I'm just going to get into all of that right now...

Best&Worst: Best MLB Teams Post-Deadline

This is the second installment of the "Best&Worst" segment and it details the best teams in the MLB after the deadline. The trade deadline has shaken up baseball, as is standard procedure, so here is where I rank the teams after those deals. I decided to remain consistent and just do a top 5 list (I started with a top 15 but the article got way too long). These teams all have a legitimate chance to win the World Series. This is my unintentional playoff predictions (I made the list first then noticed I had a division winner and 4 teams from each league) so call it what you want.

Fantasy Baseball Spot Starter Pickups For Tuesday 8/2/11

Sunday's Starter Recommendation One - Freddy Garcia - 6.0 Innings Pitched - 6 Strikeouts - Win - 3.00 ERA - 1.17 WHIP
Sunday's Starter Recommendation Two - Brandon McCarthy - 6.0 Innings Pitched - 9 Strikeouts - Win - 4.50 ERA - 1.33 WHIP
ESPN Week 16 Final Starter Stats - 43.2 Innings Pitched - 49 Strikeouts - 10.10 K/9 - 5 Wins in 7 Starts - 3.09 ERA - 1.24 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Stats - 670.2 Innings Pitched - 495 Strikeouts - 6.64 K/9 - 46 Wins in 107 Starts - 3.41 ERA - 1.20 WHIP
Cumulative Starter Spreadsheet Viewable Online Here

Sunday capped off a nearly perfect week on Sunday night.  Both starters picked up wins and plenty of strike outs in the process.  The ERA and WHIP on the week were both very good, and five wins in seven starts is a great rate, especially when you are throwing for more than a strikeout per inning.

Unfortunately, I have to try and follow up that amazing week here in Week 17 as i start on Tuesday.  As always, the recommendation is available in more than 50% of ESPN leagues....

Monday, August 1, 2011

NFL Free Agency Reactions - 8/1/11

The news has calmed finally.  Many of the better players have already made their moves.  We have reached the bargain hunter portion of the free agency period. Before we get to the analysis you can check out my reactions to Tuesday's player moves here (cuts) and here (signings), Wednesday's player moves here, Thursday's moves here, Friday's moves here, Saturday's moves here and Sunday's moves here.

And onto Monday's moves...

NFL Player Movement Reactions - 7/31/11

Couldn't even get the day off on a Sunday.  I didn't know it was possible to be on football overload.  Right now, that's where I am.  Either way, still going to write about the signings and cuts and trades of the day. Before we get to that you can check out my reactions to Tuesday's player moves here (cuts) and here (signings), Wednesday's player moves here, Thursday's moves here, Friday's moves here and Saturday's moves here.

Right onto the analysis here....